Dublin 1916

[PFF]

In a short 1916 article in a US Newspaper-on the Dublin 1916 Easter rising- there was a report that the British forces had only had about a dozen casualities (Lancer regiment).

1) Were the true British casuality totals for a week of figthing quite higher?

2) Could whoever put out this report was afraid that the British would become demoralized as a result of high casualities fighting Irish rebels?

[Glosters]

Casualty details were published soon after the event. Probably just a reporter who didn't bother with things like research. As the details were available here, a report in a US newspaper would have been irrelevant.

Steve

[swizz]

Figures were definitely higher than that although the precise number varies according to the source you're looking at. Keith Jeffery's 'Ireland and the Great War' gives totals of 500 killed and 2500 wounded for the week, of which 60 were insurgents and 132 were 'troops and police.' He doesn't go into any more detail than that. I agree with Steve about the irrelevancy of a US newspaper report to British morale etc at the time.

Swizz

[Compo]

Robert Kee in Ireland a history sets the numbers at 300 civilians, 60 rebels, 130 British troops killed.

The illustration below is of the General Post Office in Dublin, the main rebel strong point. It was shelled at point blank and set on fire.

Then there were the executions in the month that followed, about 15.

Regds,Bill

[curranl]

Hello All,

The casualty numbers for the Rising are given in The Easter Rising by Michael Foy and Brian Barton ( ISBN 0 7509 3433 6). This is an excellent account of an episode that is shrouded in mythology here.

" .....the official figures record that during the Rising 450 people were killed, 2,614 were wounded and 9 were declared missing, almost all in Dublin. Military losses were 116 dead, 368 wounded and nine missing, while 16 policemen were killed and 29 wounded. The figures do not distinguish between Volunteers and civilians for whom the combined figure was 318 dead and 2,217 injured. However, a roll of honour which was compiled later records 64 rebels as having died out of a grand total of 1,558 insurgents."

Regards,

Liam.

[AGWR]

Many of the British casualties were sustained around Clanwilliam House by two battalions of the Sherwood Foresters (2/7th and 2/8th).

Regards,

AGWR

[curranl]

Hello AGWR,

Foy and Barton give the following casualty numbers for the Sherwood Foresters taking Clanwilliam House:

" When all was over, five Volunteers of C Company were dead, while British losses amounted to four officers killed and fourteen wounded, and 216 other ranks either killed or wounded."

Regards,

Liam.

[AGWR]

Hello Liam,

Their casualties were absolutely unbelievable when one considers the number of Volunteers involved. I don't suppose it helped that one of the battalions had left their machine guns in the UK.

Regards,

AGWR

[curranl]

Hello AGWR,

The other problem seems to have been that the British troops were trained for fighting on the Western Front and had no experience or training for fighting in an urban environment. By contrast, the Volunteers had assumed they would be fighting in the city and had trained accordingly. It was the end of the Rising before the British got the hang of knocking holes through the walls of adjoining houses rather than making rushes down the open street against fortified positions.

Regards,

Liam.

[swizz]

I'm not sure whether anyone is still interested in this thread, but I came across the official figures for the casualties from the Easter Rising. These are from an Intelligence Report compiled for Dublin Castle in 1916:

Number killed during rebellion:

Military 116

Police 16

Civilians 318

Number wounded:

Military 368

Police 29

Civilians 2217

Hope this is of some interest!

Swizz